Wednesday, July 19, 2006

News briefs from Israel

It has now been released for publication that two IDF soldiers were killed in the fierce exchanges of gunfire between Israeli forces and Hizbullah terrorists on the Lebanese border.

The battle raged for several hours today near Avivim, 12 kilometers north of Tzfat, along the Israeli-Lebanese border. Several Hizbullah terrorists, who have hidden out there since the beginning of the fighting a week ago, are reported to have been killed. Overlooking Avivim was a Hizbullah stronghold of Marun A-Ras, which used to be a civilian village.

Hizbullah attackers fired eight Katyusha rockets at communities in the Western Galilee a short time ago. Two of the rockets slammed into a chicken coop on one of the region's many agricultural communities.

The police department reports that the number of fatalities in Nazareth as a result of this afternoon's Katyusha attacks on the city has risen to three. Two children, ages eight and ten years old, were killed immediately in the Hizbullah assault. Twelve people suffered light injuries.

Another barrage of Katyusha rockets was unleashed against communities in the western Galilee by Hizbullah terrorists today

There were no injuries or damage

Israeli air force planes bombed a Hizbullah bunker in Beirut this afternoon. The bunker is located in the Dahiya neighborhood of the city, a Shi'ite area known to be housing the headquarters and offices of Hizbullah. Two routes used by Hizbullah terrorists for transport of men and material to the south were also hit.

IAF planes also attacked a vehicle into which Hizbullah terrorists retreated after launching several rockets at Israeli territory.

Shortly before 5:00pm, a Kassam rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza landed adjacent to a Jewish community in the Western Negev.

No injuries or damage was reported in the attack.

Hizbullah terrorists fired a series of Katyusha barrages at targets in Israel over the last half-hour. The areas hit were Tiberias, Kiryat Shemona, Yesod Hamaalah, Nazareth and Upper Nazareth, Tel Hai, and Afula.

In Nazareth, police report that there were several injuries. In the area of Kiryat Shemona, 12 rockets fell, with two others striking the area of Yesod Hamaalah. Cases of shock were reported by local emergency services.

According to Israeli intelligence agencies, the Lebanese Hizbullah organization is helping to direct and fund some planned Islamic Jihad and Fatah terrorist attacks inside Israeli cities, in the hope of opening a third front in the current Arab assault on the Jewish State. Security services have many warnings of efforts by the two Palestinian Authority-based groups to carry out terrorist attacks in Jewish population centers at this time.

The Islamic Jihad, like Hizbullah, is known to be supported by Iran; while Fatah is headed by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

Just this afternoon, a bomber was pursued and captured in the populous Sharon region, north of Tel Aviv. More than 200 wanted terrorists were captured when IDF forces demolished PA offices in Shechem and overnight, IDF forces captured five wanted terrorists in Judea and Samaria.